Billy Tubbs

Stacey King began his college career as a starter. Then he lost his eligibility for a semester because of poor grades. He was reinstated the following year and returned to the starting lineup. Then he was benched for inconsistent play. For King, those two years did little more than destroy his confidence. He regained it before last season, partly because Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs believed in him. "Your time in the sun is coming," Tubbs told King. "Make sure you have sunglasses on, because it`s going to be bright."

Florida State belonged after all. With critics on every corner saying FSU was better suited to something other than the NCAA Tournament, the Seminoles shook their heads and winked, then Friday upended fifth-seeded Texas Christian 96-87 in a first round Midwest Regional game at The Myriad. No. 12 FSU outscored the country's top-scoring team by making it play defense and by having a point guard who refused to admit he was hurt. Kerry Thompson, X-rayed before halftime for possible broken ribs, limped out of the locker room and scored a season-high 17 points with nine assists, all but willing FSU to its highest output of the season.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Two fat cats can`t rule the same alley, and two nasty birds can`t rule the same roost. So Oklahoma showed Louisville who`s better at playing basketball the new-fangled, high-powered way they both enjoy. Oklahama swept to a 108-98 victory over Louisville Thursday night in the Southeast Regional semifinals in the Civic Center. Oklahoma (33-3) will meet Villanova (24-12) here Saturday in the regional final. Billy Tubbs, Oklahoma`s coach, has said all season that when his team fails to score 100 points and loses, the loss is his players` fault.

At the first team meeting four years ago, coach Billy Tubbs delivered an easy-to-understand message to his new players at Texas Christian University. "He was very upfront with us," senior guard Mike Jones said. "He said if we do the TCU stuff, which is fast-break basketball and play hard defense, then we'd have a chance to score a 100 every game and everybody would have pretty good averages and we'd have a pretty good record. "That kind of motivated us. It's worked out real well." The Horned Frogs won 16, 15 and 22 games in Tubbs' first three seasons, but they were missing something.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Billy Tubbs was asked Friday at a news conference whether any Big Eight Conference basketball team reminded him of Villanova. Tubbs, the coach at Oklahoma, leaned forward and grabbed the microphone. Then he leaned back and looked right to Stacey King, his wiry junior center, who helped the Sooners win the Big Eight regular-season and conference- tournament championshipss. King shook his head. Tubbs looked left to Dave Sieger, a Sooner guard who is a defensive wizard and a crushing 3-point shooter.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When Kansas took the court at Kemper Arena for its semifinal Saturday against Duke, Blue Devils fans chanted, "One-man team! One-man team!" at the Jayhawks, referring to All-America center Danny Manning. The Duke mascot wore a headband calling the Jayhawks a "One-Manning Team." Duke players spoke of stopping Manning, thus stopping the Jayhawks. Kansas forward Milt Newton had heard it all before. "A lot of people see Kansas as a one-man team," Newton said Sunday, one day after he scored 20 to help KU beat Duke 66-59.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma`s basketball team has reminded a lot of people in Kansas City of the Sooners football team. The Sooners practice loose, play hard and score as many points as they can. Any resemblance between Billy Tubbs` basketball team and Barry Switzer`s successful football program is purely coincidental, Tubbs said Sunday. "The only way we want to copy the football team is to be the kind of basketball program that is nationally competitive every year," Tubbs said, "the kind that reloads every once in a while and is back at it."

At the first team meeting four years ago, coach Billy Tubbs delivered an easy-to-understand message to his new players at Texas Christian University. "He was very upfront with us," senior guard Mike Jones said. "He said if we do the TCU stuff, which is fast-break basketball and play hard defense, then we'd have a chance to score a 100 every game and everybody would have pretty good averages and we'd have a pretty good record. "That kind of motivated us. It's worked out real well." The Horned Frogs won 16, 15 and 22 games in Tubbs' first three seasons, but they were missing something.

Toward the end of Oklahoma`s 107-87 thrashing of Auburn in Saturday`s NCAA second-round game in Atlanta, Sooners coach Billy Tubbs refused to replace four starters despite the lopsided score. Tigers coach Sonny Smith gestured toward Tubbs, who paid no attention. Finally, Smith began calling timeouts at every opportunity, dragging out the end of the game. Afterward, Smith shook Tubbs` hand and whispered something in his ear. "I told him I thought he had a great club," Smith said. "I also told him I wished I had two more timeouts."

Billy Tubbs said Saturday he will leave Oklahoma after 14 seasons to take over as coach at TCU. Tubbs, 59, said he had been talking to TCU for a couple of weeks. Tubbs replaces Moe Iba, who was fired in March after seven years. Tubbs signed a five-year deal published reports indicate he will be paid between $200,000 and $400,000 a year. Tubbs' base salary at Oklahoma was $107,000. The Oklahoman newspaper of Oklahoma City said a top candidate to replace Tubbs is St. Louis coach Charlie Spoonhour.

Texas Christian University coach Billy Tubbs runs the Horned Frogs as though he were running an NBA franchise with a win-now-or-else ultimatum. In the past two seasons, he's run off three starters and an assistant coach and added four starters and an assistant coach. The result of the housecleaning: TCU is better than it has ever been in Tubbs' four seasons in Fort Worth, Texas. The Horned Frogs are ranked 22nd with a 23-4 record and a 12-0 mark in the Western Athletic Conference. They already have won the WAC Pacific Divison title and a first-round bye in the postseason tournament.

Billy Tubbs said Saturday he will leave Oklahoma after 14 seasons to take over as coach at TCU. Tubbs, 59, said he had been talking to TCU for a couple of weeks. Tubbs replaces Moe Iba, who was fired in March after seven years. Tubbs signed a five-year deal published reports indicate he will be paid between $200,000 and $400,000 a year. Tubbs' base salary at Oklahoma was $107,000. The Oklahoman newspaper of Oklahoma City said a top candidate to replace Tubbs is St. Louis coach Charlie Spoonhour.

NASHVILLE -- The anatomy of the brave, little one-point loss: East Tennessee State had the behind-the-pole position reserved for institutions of three words or more. Sixteenth seed. Would have been lower if the NCAA had let out its basketball tournament any more. Oklahoma was Oklahoma -- big, bad and bountiful. In this Southeast Regional, it was the chosen, the fertile seed. When East Tennessee State received its invitation to this 64-team ball, it read, "Please join us as the guest of honor at a road kill."

Stacey King began his college career as a starter. Then he lost his eligibility for a semester because of poor grades. He was reinstated the following year and returned to the starting lineup. Then he was benched for inconsistent play. For King, those two years did little more than destroy his confidence. He regained it before last season, partly because Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs believed in him. "Your time in the sun is coming," Tubbs told King. "Make sure you have sunglasses on, because it`s going to be bright."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When Kansas took the court at Kemper Arena for its semifinal Saturday against Duke, Blue Devils fans chanted, "One-man team! One-man team!" at the Jayhawks, referring to All-America center Danny Manning. The Duke mascot wore a headband calling the Jayhawks a "One-Manning Team." Duke players spoke of stopping Manning, thus stopping the Jayhawks. Kansas forward Milt Newton had heard it all before. "A lot of people see Kansas as a one-man team," Newton said Sunday, one day after he scored 20 to help KU beat Duke 66-59.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma`s basketball team has reminded a lot of people in Kansas City of the Sooners football team. The Sooners practice loose, play hard and score as many points as they can. Any resemblance between Billy Tubbs` basketball team and Barry Switzer`s successful football program is purely coincidental, Tubbs said Sunday. "The only way we want to copy the football team is to be the kind of basketball program that is nationally competitive every year," Tubbs said, "the kind that reloads every once in a while and is back at it."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs, whose face and voice have been compared to Jack Nicholson`s, got a chance to polish his standup comic routine at a news conference for Final Four coaches. Next to Kansas` quiet Larry Brown, Duke`s friendly Mike Krzyzewski and Arizona`s stolid Lute Olson, Tubbs found a near-perfect forum for his repertoire of one-liners. Tubbs on Oklahoma basketball`s place in a football-crazed state: "Hell, they dropped spring training for Monday so folks could come up here for the game.

What a lot of trouble to go to. They`ve gone out and rented a whole arena in Kansas City, printed up tickets, lined up Breathless Brent and his blue- blazered buddies just to knock down one minor basketball bias. Hang the expense. It appears that a point must be driven home; a reminder must be served. Backboards, you see, don`t grow only in Brooklyn. Tobacco Road isn`t everywhere that a boy dribbles before he can spit. You can spell hoop without Hoosier. Nearly a whole Final Four has been dedicated to proving the boundlessness of a bounding ball.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs, whose face and voice have been compared to Jack Nicholson`s, got a chance to polish his standup comic routine at a news conference for Final Four coaches. Next to Kansas` quiet Larry Brown, Duke`s friendly Mike Krzyzewski and Arizona`s stolid Lute Olson, Tubbs found a near-perfect forum for his repertoire of one-liners. Tubbs on Oklahoma basketball`s place in a football-crazed state: "Hell, they dropped spring training for Monday so folks could come up here for the game.

What a lot of trouble to go to. They`ve gone out and rented a whole arena in Kansas City, printed up tickets, lined up Breathless Brent and his blue- blazered buddies just to knock down one minor basketball bias. Hang the expense. It appears that a point must be driven home; a reminder must be served. Backboards, you see, don`t grow only in Brooklyn. Tobacco Road isn`t everywhere that a boy dribbles before he can spit. You can spell hoop without Hoosier. Nearly a whole Final Four has been dedicated to proving the boundlessness of a bounding ball.